When dog owners go to rehab, they make sure their pets are taken care of

Stephen Knight has saved thousands of animals from ending up in shelters. But 13 years ago, he was just trying to save himself.

Knight, whose nonprofit provides foster care for the pets of people in need of rehab, was motivated by her own experiences with addiction and animal rescue.

By 2011, when Knight was 51, he had lost everything to meth addiction: his family, his job, his home and almost his life. HIV positive, and living out of her car, Knight entered rehab at her mother’s behest.

“She said, ‘I don’t want to have to bury you,'” Knight recalled. “I worked hard and got a second chance at life. You have to learn to live again.”

Eight months into recovery, a crucial time for addicts and a period when counselors often advise against forging new relationships and commitments, Knight opened the door to his sober apartment to find a friend in tears. He had fallen, and in his arms was a 15-pound ball: a Maltese/Dachshund mix named Jayde.

Knight’s friend said no one would take Jayde away, and she asked him to take her to a shelter so she could surrender her.

“I looked at Jayde and we looked at each other,” Knight said. “It was one of the more spiritual moments, like, ‘I think we might need each other here.'”

Knight says his own response was spontaneous, and one he wouldn’t recommend to his own clients in his work today as a substance abuse counselor.

“I said, ‘I’ll take her,'” Knight said. “That moment was that one act of kindness that I never thought would turn into thousands of other dogs getting the help they need.”

Opening your home and your heart

Knight began his new life as Jayde’s dog parent that night. And she soon learned that other people were having a hard time finding foster homes for their beloved pets when they needed substance abuse treatment. Often, a shelter was their only option.

“These shelters are operating at 150 percent capacity. If you’re over capacity, you start euthanizing dogs,” Knight said. “We can’t have the solution be to euthanize dogs. We can’t.”

Knight, who had never owned a dog as an adult, also learned that people often delay rehab or forgo treatment when they can’t find safe housing for their pets. Along with the friends and family he had fixed up with as part of his recovery, Knight began rescuing dogs like Jayde one by one, becoming a beacon of hope for addicts and their pets .

“It gives them a lot of hope,” Knight said. “We’re finding that the animal-human bond made a huge difference in recovery. People stayed sober. People had a purpose.”

As Knight studied to become a licensed substance abuse counselor, he also learned more and more about the positive impact that staying connected to a pet can have on recovery. And as more requests came in to help foster animals, it became her passion, one she admits she accepted both enthusiastically and naively.

“It’s hard for me to say no,” Knight said. “At first, I was like, ‘Here, go. Go in. Everybody gets along. And it didn’t work out that way.’

At full capacity, she was taking in eight dogs in her tiny home when she mistakenly put her hand between two dogs fighting over a toy. He realized, after losing half a finger, that he had a lot to learn.

Knight sought advice from a local animal rescue, Dallas Pets Alive!, and began following a stricter protocol, educating herself on best practices for animal rescue and recovery.

“They taught me a lot,” Knight said. “They will tell you exactly how to raise a dog. They have manuals. They have trainers.”

13 years and 1,200 dogs

In 2015, Knight’s organization, Dogs Matter, became a registered nonprofit, and buttoned up its program: vetting applicants, conducting animal behavior assessments and enforcing contracts that bound participants to comply with their recovery plan and complete a 12-month post-release period. enveloping program

“We need to stay in touch with you and you are obligated to stay in touch with us,” Knight said.

Egan, 28, who sought treatment for fentanyl addiction last spring, says his love for his dog Remy is what motivated him to seek treatment.

“For all the times I’ve felt like I didn’t deserve love, Remy has always loved me unconditionally,” she said. “I didn’t want to lose my dog, and then someone told me about Dogs Matter. I had no idea how much help and resources it would bring to my life.”

For a three-month period last spring, Knight provided photos and updates of Remy while Egan was in rehab.

“I would go through the pictures every day,” Egan said. “Knowing that he’s happy and that he’s being taken care of would remind me that I’m doing the right thing.”

This year, Dogs Matter teamed up with Dallas Pets Alive! to serve even more people and animals, including cats.

“He always asked me, ‘So you’re called Dogs Matter.’ Cats don’t matter?'” And I said, ‘Cats do matter, and now we’re going to get your cat!'” she said.

The expanded outreach includes helping homeless people find safe temporary homes for their pets and gives Knight a wider pool of available foster families, a component she says is crucial to saving more lives.

“If we don’t have the host families, we can’t do this mission,” Knight said. “You’re saving that dog’s life and the owner’s life. And we can keep a dog from going to a shelter.”

Today, Knight lives with her three dogs, Jayde, Piper and Lady, and her organization has helped more than 1,200 dogs and their owners. And as Knight approaches 14 years clean and sober, he hopes to turn Dogs Matter into a national model program, with the goal of giving other animals and their humans the same second chance at life he got.

“When someone makes that decision to enter treatment, it’s one of the biggest decisions, the bravest decisions they’ll ever make,” Knight said. “What I teach my clients is with sobriety and recovery, you really can have a life beyond your wildest dreams.”

Do you want to get involved? Consult the Dogs Matter website and see how to help.

To donate to Dogs Matter via GoFundMe, click here

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